Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the highly anticipated sequel to the Warner Bros. mega-hit,Aquaman, is making its way to theaters! We got the chance to speak to the visionary director behind this superhero epic, James Wan.
Wan is known for his unique directing style and emphasis on the camera to convey tension and emotion. Before we dove into the Aquaman discussion, we spoke to him about why he feels this style works for him. From there, we chatted about his character work and what he looks for in leading roles. Finally, we spoke about his producing work and how he tackles the producer role in contrast to his director role.
Check out the full interview with James Wan below:
You are known for your creativity with your camera work – from dolly shots, to crane shots, to the spider cam. Why do you feel like it’s important to have this intention behind the camera?
James Wan: Well, it’s called motion picture. And, obviously, the motion aspect of it is a big part of storytelling. A lot of the filmmakers that I grew up admiring, and I looked at and loved, can tell so much with just a camera move and where they placed the camera, what they do with it, and sometimes not moving it either can stay alive as well. I’m very lucky to have had a genre like the horror genre to kind of allow me to kind of express my creativity with with what I do visually. And so, you know, I try to apply that to all my work.
You’re also known for bringing a lot of humanity to your characters. What is your process for bringing that human aspect to these characters, specifically, Aquaman with this larger than life character in this larger than life world that he’s in?
Wan: I think it’s very important. I think, ultimately, what I learned from all the movies that I’ve made, is that it’s very important, at least for the characters that I like to play with, and to tell, is that I like them to be characters that you can kind of relate to. If you can relate to them, and you feel for them, I can take them, and plop them into the craziest settings, like as outrageous as the settings can be, you would still be there with them, because you can kind of relate with them. And, that really is very important for something like an Aquaman film, or even Fast and Furious! We’re willing to put up with the craziest car action set pieces, but at the end of the day, the soap opera nature of the human element is what kind of like keeps you around? The action brings you in, but the human element is what brings you back again and again. Right? So that’s something that I think is very important, that regardless of you know, whether I’m doing my horror films or my fantasy stuff, I think it’s important that I create characters that people can kind of see themselves in them.
I’m also a fan of your producing work. The art form of producing is something that a lot of people aren’t familiar with. I’m curious, what is your process behind your producing work? Are you super hands on? Do you try to be hands back?
Wan: Yes, so for me, obviously, when I’m producing, I’m not directing those projects. I’ve always been very thankful that when I started out with Saw, you know, other people took a chance on me, and I kind of want to kind of pay that back, pay it forward, right? And give upcoming filmmakers the opportunity to make the movies they want to make, and I can be kind of like this state man character to kind of help them out. And so, I usually tell my directors, you can use me as much as you want. And if I’m available, I’d love to help you as much as you would want me to help you out. I generally, in terms of what gravitates me to some projects is kind of high concept ideas. It’s all in the idea. If I liked that idea, then I want to help be a part of that. That is how I picked my different producer reel projects.